How happy I am to find your blog. I have partaken of dryland oysters before, of the bull variety, and found them quite tasty. We consumers now waste so much of the beasts we eat — congratulations on going back to the old ways of honoring as much of the pig as possible. Recently I purchased half of a young pig from a local producer — the taste and texture is far superior to industrially produced swine. One part that I find challenging is the head — anyone have experience with making head cheese?

Being an adventurer of sort on culinary experiences I must say that I have not tried this and really do not have a desire to… However, I am also one of “those people” that will try something I am uncertain of and if I like it will try it again regardless of what it was. Sometimes telling me ahead of time will make me a bit uneasy about trying it but like I said, if I like it, game on!

I have had some strange food experiences being married to a German national – more so in his homeland than here. The purple pickled herring salad is something I will not be eating again, nor the schultze (sp?) but that is another story for another time.

In trying new things I did discover that I like kangaroo. And no, it does not taste like chicken.

“Pig Fries” is what my mother called them…and I gobbled them up for years without knowing what they really were. Then one day, while I was right in the middle of chewing a big piece, my older sister enlightened me. Haven’t eaten them since even though I remember that they were very tasty!

I gotta say, I love the title. The last time I tried something “new” (ie. some strange animal or part of the animal that clearly is not for the average eater), it was an octopus tentacle in the middle of a very nice NYC french restaurant where our mid room table placement prevented any thoughts I may have had about spitting it out. It was a Fear Factor moment that has left me a bit skeptical about strange foods.

amy… i would never have thought that i could tease you with pig testie’s! foie gras? perhaps. as for the head cheese. the concept is more than i can bear. but i’ll try almost anything!

firedog… scary large

butta… i think a ball buster would be way too kind under these circumstances

pony… you want i feed you chicken tenders

summer… i love the squeal reference.

rob cox… it’s all about you, my man. the pig testicle cook, like nobody’s business… you are the reason for this post!!!

ROB COX is the sous chef over at ombi restaurant here in nashville. he works alongside the amazing chef laura.and last night they donated their time and put on an amazing evening to benefit ‘gilda’s house’ with a dinner/cooking class. the menu was superb. figs with a port wine reduction, oysters with a bloody mary cocktail, mini blt’s of pork belly, arugula and a tomato compote. then braised pork shank with pan fried gnocchi finished with a perfect fig and goat cheese tart. The now infamous pig fries were an aside… just for fun. and fun it really was. thanks to you both for an amazing evening. i kept this off the main post so as not for the masses to think of ombi and pig balls in the same sentence… you guys really are a shining light for me in this town and I so respect your food

waddles… well, it was new to me! and now amy can fix you up with some head cheese recipes.

klinde… i’m not as experimental as you might think. but i live to venture into the unknown. it’s a big world out there.

newscoma… yes – i have heard that! but not before i moved here…

radish… very new to this nyc girl too. it was rob the sous chef leading me down the offal path

sparkplug… pig fries is what rob and laura from ombi called them too. i just like saying testicles. and the same thing happened to me with beef tongue. i ate it happily all my childhood and then saw one in all it’s full-on glory in my grandmothers kitchen. that was the end of that.

cookie… you know you want it.

jennifer… all sliced and sauteed they were like hotdogs kinda. they were prepared so well that they tasted pretty damn good. like i’m not craving them again, but it was a positive experience